I finally feel like I’m home after nearly a month in Peru, a country stunning in it’s diversity of people, landscapes, climates, food, history, flora and fauna.
Arequipa's Plaza-most beautiful in Peru
I highly recommend it!. Having never been south of Mexico City, a whole new world has opened up for me in our own hemisphere, not to mention the delight of walking off an airplane after a 6 hour flight without jet lag! There is only one hour time difference between Boulder and Lima.
The plight of dogs in Peru was not the focus of our trip, but this is after all a dog blog so I feel I should say something about what I observed. The bad news: stray dogs are everywhere in the cities and rural areas with the exception of the Manu rainforest in southern Peru. If dogs are there, I didn’t see them. We did, though, see Vanessa, a tapir. She was rescued from flood waters about three years ago when she was a baby.
Vanessa the tapir
Vanessa returns to Manu Wildlife Center about once every 3 months. We were lucky to meet her.
The good news, such as it is: I never saw a dog mistreated. Ignored? Yes. Physically harmed? No. (I wish I could say the same for Venice when some years ago I impulsively confronted a man for kicking his Cocker Spaniel in the middle of the Piazza San Marco. I’m sure I did nothing to improve the image of the ugly American tourist, but he did stop abusing his dog, at least for the time being.) Also, most of the dogs I saw in Peru looked reasonably well-fed and, believe it or not, confident in their carriage. I rarely saw a dog cower. Still…it’s a painful situation.
Of all the places we visited, it was in downtown Lima that I most saw people promenading with their pooches on leash. Sorry, no picture. Ira is the photographer in the family and he’s captivated by monuments and architecture, not dogs. Go figure.
Have you heard of the Peruvian hairless dog, los viringos—perros incas del Perú, the dog of the Incas? I hadn’t. It turned out, though, that Betsy, our guide through Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu, is also an attorney and working to revive the status of the Peruvian hairless dog.
Betsy
She and her mom and sister have rescued and adopted four of them–Paco, Coca, Willaq, and Wayra. Betsy has become the “go to” person in Cusco for the feeding and care of these increasingly popular and affectionate dogs. Unfortunately I don’t have picture of Betsy’s dogs, but here’s a photo of the breed.
Los viringos
As for Ms. Sadie, she greatly enjoyed herself while we were gone. No wonder. She loves her Mama Kitty and her daily routine was pretty much the same as the one I described in “People Suffer Separation Anxiety Too”.
Finally, notice the new Boulder Dog header picture from which you would not have a clue that the sun shines 360 days a year. Later I’ll insert a photograph more representative of summer in Boulder. For now though, I just couldn’t bring myself to post a July blog entry under a winter snow scene.
Hope you and your canine companions enjoyed (survived?) the Fourth of July.
More posts are on the way!
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Good to have you back! I was just thinking about you since Jellybean had a go to pieces over my neighbor’s extensive fireworks display last night and jumped four feet straight into my lap where she huddled, peeking out from under my armpit for most of the evening. Initially I was all, “oh how sweet she wants to snuggle!” But as my legs began falling asleep…;-)
Hi Barry
Thanks for the welcome home. Sounds like JB found a way to survive July 4th, but you? Maybe not so much 🙂